Customization has been the buzzword in marketing for years. But there’s no amount of data that will make a creative in New York able to speak relatably to consumers in Minnesota. This moment calls for some professional soul-searching: If the industry aims to be customer-centric, why are we purchasing media in an agency-centric way? Your…
When Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appointed Lauren Bennett McGinty to lead Explore Minnesota–the North Star state’s visitor bureau–in November 2021, she had her work cut out for her. Bringing Minnesota’s tourism industry, a $16 billion business in 2019, out of its pandemic slump would take all of her experience as a marketer and lobbyist. Broaden…
Brands are feeling some whiplash these days when it comes to consumer behavior. Where just a handful of years ago consumers were throwing around cash without a care, today they’re much more nuanced and less predictable in their post-Covid, inflation-cautious, anxiety-ridden spending. Of course, brand performance, alongside consumer behavior, is constantly evolving. But one thing…
Wondering if women’s sports in the United States are actually winning? Just check the scoreboard. In November 2023, Deloitte predicted that revenue generated by U.S. women’s sports in 2024 would exceed $1 billion for the first time. The $1.28 billion estimate was 300% larger than the last time the company made such a prediction in…
At a time when shoppers are feeling the pinch of inflation, businesses are doing their best to distinguish their offerings from the competition. A new report shows collaboration–whether that involves putting a video game character on a birthday card or fast-food restaurant logo on a line of sneakers–remains a viable way to achieve this goal,…
Need a primer or reminder on how to stay safe and sane in Cannes? Here are some of ADWEEK’s proven tips for handling it like a seasoned pro: DO sit in the front row when any friend or colleague is speaking. It means a lot more than you’ll know until you’ve been on stage. DON’T…
Where’s worth going to find people worth knowing? Every square foot of Cannes is a networking hot spot, but here are some locations to find plenty of big fish in a small barrel. “The Gutter Bar,” 72 Croisette It may look like a chaotic mass of pungent humanity, but that’s only because it is. Still,…
Oh, crap. Right there, not 10 feet away from you, is that creative marketing icon you’ve been idolizing for years. This could be your moment! With just a few choice words, your hero could become your client, mentor, boss or even your bestie. But then again, what if you make it weird? You always make…
Stuck at home during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, a whopping 70% of Americans began cooking for themselves–a 50% jump over the prior year. For the sake of those whose culinary acumen didn’t rise above scrambled eggs and turkey sandwiches, New York Times Cooking editor Sam Sifton penned a piece that recommended a new brand…
Chris Bradley freely admits he’s not a conventional sports guy, but when a neighbor mentioned “this golf thing” about a decade ago, it caught his attention. That would be disc golf, which uses Frisbees and baskets instead of balls and holes. The appeal, Bradley said, is the wide range of abilities and intensity the sport…
When Nancy Hall told a college advisor that she eventually wanted to be a CEO, he said that was an unrealistic goal because “only men are CEOs, and typically men that are CEOs are over 6 feet.” Because Hall was 5 feet tall, “he didn’t think that was in my future.” The incident motivated her…
News media has transformed in recent years. The way people consume content is shifting, attention spans are shrinking, and the news cycle is shorter than ever. To be included, brands need to take an integrated and creative approach. Every campaign must achieve the unexpected and share stories that span the entire paid, earned, shared and…
Stephanie McCarty has been a chief marketing officer for a little over five years, but the job she has today isn’t the same one she took in 2018. “I feel like I play marketer part of the day, chief financial officer part of the day and chief technology officer part of the day,” said McCarty,…
Kelechi Nwankwoala is the research lead at NeuroLab, the GroupM agency Mindshare’s consumer neuroscience lab, where he measures consumers’ emotions using methods like electroencephalogram, facial expression analysis and implicit association tests. Nwankwoala led a global research study in collaboration with Snap, which drew insights from a panel of 28,000 adult participants across 14 markets that…
Four years of consolidation completely reshaped Stagwell’s media offering, leaving Assembly the group’s only standalone media agency brand. When Valerie Davis became the shop’s North America chief executive in 2021, Assembly was fresh off a merger with its former sister agency, ForwardPMX. Now that it had a bigger workforce, Assembly had to reshape its culture….
In February, the Institute for Advertising Ethics (IAE) launched Green Shield, an online educational course that focuses on the concepts underpinning modern greenwashing. It’s the industry’s first comprehensive, social-science-guided effort to combat climate disinformation and greenwashing–two problems that scientists, researchers, journalists and lawmakers have been urging to proactively address for over a decade. Peer-reviewed studies,…
The night before his 16th birthday, Rick Barrack camped out at the DMV in Louisville, Ky., to get his driver’s license first thing in the morning. The eagerness to get behind the wheel of his prized silver-and-red 1979 Chevrolet Camaro didn’t end there–he was pulled over for speeding on the very first drive. “That was…
In the summer of 1993, readers of the Los Angeles Times opened their papers to a startling bit of news–and for once it wasn’t about wildfires, mudslides or Michael Jackson. “Work clothes worn by dad and other unhip people are now all the rage among some youths,” ran the headline. And while the story mentioned…
Fri Forjindam knew New York wasn’t for her after experiencing her first blizzard. After her master’s, the Columbia University theater graduate moved to sunny Los Angeles and continued to pursue her acting dreams. To pay the bills, she landed a gig as an executive assistant at Thinkwell Group, the global design and production agency behind…
As influencer marketing has grown into a multibillion-dollar business, influencer trips have evolved into bigger and more lavish affairs, with brands looking to outdo their rivals. But many consumers are wondering if there’s a ceiling to such extravagance. Criticism hit a high note earlier this year when beauty brand Tarte flew influencers, along with their…
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